For years I avoided purchasing a Costco membership. I'm not sure why, although living below poverty level for many years was probably a factor. However, now that we have more money to work with, it makes sense to have a membership there, and I'm learning more and more how to save money by shopping at Costco.

Most recently, I decided to try photo developing at Costco.  We had our yearly Christmas party for our clients at my job two weeks ago, and usually I take pictures. Sadly, we never get them developed.  We do send the digital images to attendees who provide me with an email address.

This year, I decided it would be different. I was looking around on the Internet for the best price on photo developing and I decided to check Costco. I was surprised to see that 5 x 7 reprints are an astonishingly inexpensive $.39 and 8 x 10 reprints are $1.49.   4 x 6 prints were also reasonable at $0.13 each.

At that price I was able to order prints for everyone who had a picture taken with Santa, and also copies for the agency. One of my coworkers has a six year old little girl and I was able to get a very adorable photo of her with Santa Claus. I photoshopped an oval frame around the photo and ordered several copies for the mother as a Christmas present. Of course she was thrilled. What mother of a cute little girl wouldn't be?

I am accustomed to getting my prints developed in one hour. That was not possible with Costco, but for the price we paid, it was worth waiting. My photos were supposed to be ready at three o'clock the next day, but when I arrived they asked me to wait for about 15 more minutes. There were three people in line ahead of me picking up photos. While I waited I looked around at some of the other products available. I was surprised to see that I can get 20 x 30 posters for $8.99. Holiday cards (6 x 7.5)were available 50 for $14.99 and you receive four free calendars.

I've said before that digital cameras are making photography an affordable hobby. In order to get one good picture you must take a lot of pictures, and with the old fashioned cameras this could be expensive.  But with a digital camera you can take dozens of photos and it costs nothing but your time.  I have changed the setting on my camera so that it does not make any noise when I am snapping photos. That way, the people or person that I am photographing doesn't think “Oh, she took the picture, I can stop posing now.” Instead, I am able to take several photos while they hold their pose. In this way I am able to get at least one good shot.

You can share your photos once they are uploaded to Costco with anyone, but they cannot order prints unless they have a Costco membership.

One of my coworkers, struck a pose with Santa that was so cute. She kissed him on the cheek and he had a mischievous look on his face. My coworker's mother was in attendance as a volunteer and I showed her the picture. She loved it and said she really hoped that she could have a copy of it.  I thought it was sweet that she loved the picture so much even though her daughter is nearly 50. She loved the picture just as much as the mother six year old little girl.

It's almost too late to consider photo developing as a gift, but if you hurry and your loved one lives locally, you still have time.  There's always the Christmas Day photos that need to be developed!

Here are some Christmas posts I enjoyed in the past week:

• Ultimate Money Blog – Mrs. Money says I Don't Want Anything For Christmas
• Money Crush – The Fun of Giving
• Funny About Money – A Holiday Feast That's Good and Easy and NOT Turkey
• Mint.com – Need a Last Minute Gift, How About an App?
• Speaking of applications, did you know Money Crush has one for Getting Out of Debt?
• The Digerati Life – 5 Ways to Deal with Holiday Stress and Battle the Christmas Blues
• Bargain Babe – Three Games to Play With Family at Christmas
• Sustainable Life Blog – 7 Ways to Not Gain Weight During the Holidays
• Money Reasons – Use Technology to Optimize Christmas Shopping
• Frugal Zeitgeist – Be the Perfect Guest at a Holiday Party
• Frugal Confessions – Frugal Gift Giving Ideas on a Small Budget

This is actually a Thanksgiving story, but I liked the message – I would probably have done the same thing: A Panhandling Story from 101 Centavos.

Happy Monday!